Calling out political enemies and friends

No good deed goes unpunished. You would think I would have learned that lesson by now after 30 years in politics. Of course, career politicians do not care about such lessons. Their interest is their career, not truth, not plainness, not honesty and certainly not the other guy’s opinion. But some of us working in politics have made a career of at least trying to do the right thing for the right reasons in the right way.

You might think that a conservative condemning the agendas of Donald Trump and Steve Bannon might be considered a virtue, an act of integrity an act of honesty. But, as I found out this week, such is not always the case. After penning a commentary for The Salt Lake Tribune calling out Steve Bannon as an enemy to Utah, ideologues and opportunists wasted little time rebuking me. My point is not “woe is me.” My point here is that ideologues and opportunists will always plague politics and will always be an enemy of the right thing.

Interestingly, but unsurprisingly, the comment section for my article in the Tribune is full of incredulity, if not some humor, not unmatched by heaping helpings of ideological error and excess. For me, a faithful conservative and long-time culture warrior, to criticize Bannon left many readers calling me the pot to Bannon’s kettle. Others suggested I could not have possibly penned the article, and that I must have been abducted by “pod people.” Such is the nature of Tribune trolls.

Is it acceptable anymore to be thoughtful in politics? Or are partisanship and ideology the only accepted practices today? For instance, is it possible as a sound conservative that I could defend policies sustaining traditional marriage over the years and also defend policies protecting undocumented immigrants? I think so but, evidently, it is not possible to many so-called conservatives in Utah. Is it possible to be a student of conservatism and still oppose many politicians and commentators who seem to represent conservatism today? Again, I not only think so, I know so. And yet ideology and partisanship will not permit the “true believers” to see any other view except their own.

How many times do I have to say it? Entertainment conservatives, such as Hannity and Limbaugh, do not define conservatism. Republican politics do not define conservatism. Prejudice and narrow-mindedness among critics of conservative ideas do not define conservatism. Conservatism has been defined by its historic authors, from Burke to Kirk, and, in a much lesser way, by yourstrulyrighthere in Utah.

But ideologues, partisans, and critics are not the only ones to blame for muddying honest debate. Politics also is filled with opportunists, perhaps amounting to more impact than the other three imposters combined. Opportunists, in this case, are those people who use conservatism and the cause of freedom for their own gain. They are often too cute by half in their attempts to cover their sins. Not that all of them are nefarious. Life is full of temptations for fame, money, and power. Good people, even the elect, get their hearts set upon the things of this world and aspire to the honors of men. I know I have at times. Nobody is immune. But susceptibility is no justification or excuse to permit it when we see it.

My Tribune article was a clarion call to all rational conservatives in Utah to reject Bannonism. And yet, as I mention, some people welcome Bannonism to Utah for their own selfish purposes, whether personal or institutional. And when “some people” include a representative of what, in my opinion, used to be the most influential conservative voice in Utah – a voice I created over a 14-year span – insult becomes offense.

One of the most serious errs in the conservative movement, generally, especially as of late, is the penchant to stay silent when friends are wrong. We do so out of a misplaced sense of our own shortcomings, personal courtesy or political loyalty. I have been guilty of that – ignoring the wrongheadedness and imprudence of my friends. Discretion is often the better part of valor. But sometimes it is not. Sometimes it is simply partisan forgiveness or, more accurately, partisan condemnation.

We think Utah is conservative because we understand what conservatism is. I am not so sure. Ideology, partisanship, critics, and opportunists will always be with us. But the sign of a healthy conservative body politic is how the rest of us behave – and how the rest of us behave will always determine what everyone now calls the “Utah Way.”